Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum to Present “ADVENTURE AMELIA: A Conversation With Explorers in Search for Earhart’s Plane”

Panel programs feature Tony Romeo — founder of Deep Sea Vision — whose sonar image on Pacific Ocean floor Is capturing the world's attention. Moderated by Dorothy Cochrane, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum’s Curator of Aeronautics

Amelia Earhart walking in front of her Lockheed Electra 10E. Photo courtesy Purdue University Libraries
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PRESS RELEASE

The Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum, home to Muriel, the world’s last remaining Lockheed Electra 10-E that is identical to the plane Amelia flew on her final flight, is proud to announce two special public programs — ADVENTURE AMELIA: A Conversation with Explorers in the Search for Amelia Earhart on Fri., July 19, and DEEP DIVE WITH DEEP SEA VISION  on Sat., July 20 — that will bring leading experts in the search for Amelia’s plane to her Atchison, Kan., hometown during the annual Amelia Earhart Festival.

2 Sonar Image courtesy Deep Sea Vision
Sonar Image. Photo courtesy Deep Sea Vision

Both programs will feature Tony Romeo, founder of Deep Sea Vision, who has captured the world’s attention with his company’s recent discovery on the Pacific Ocean floor that has reignited the hope of finding Amelia’s plane. Sponsored in part by SkyWest, Garmin, Southwest Airlines and The Adair Foundation, the programs are free to the public; advance registration for ADVENTURE AMELIA and DEEP DIVE WITH DEEP SEA VISION is required (seating is limited).

“We look forward to joining Atchison’s celebration of Amelia’s courageous life and seeing the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum’s stunning Lockheed Electra 10-E that is exactly like the plane Deep Sea Vision believes we have found,” said Tony Romeo, founder and CEO of Deep Sea Vision. “We’re determined to bring closure to what happened to this groundbreaking pilot and women’s rights advocate who continues to be among the world’s most admired women. Amelia’s perseverance, intelligence and ambition inspire us forward as we heed her timeless wisdom: ‘Never interrupt someone doing what you said couldn’t be done.’”

5 MURIEL Lockheed Electra 10 E courtesy Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum
Lockheed Electra 10. Photo courtesy Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum

ADVENTURE AMELA: A Conversation with Explorers in the Search for Amelia Earhart

WHEN:   Friday, July 19, 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CST

WHERE:  Fox Theatre Atchison, 612 Commercial Street, Atchison, Kan.

WHAT:  On July 2, 1937, the world heard from Amelia Earhart for the last time. She, and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared during her attempt to circumnavigate the world. In the final stages of completing the record-breaking flight, Amelia and her Lockheed Electra 10-E aircraft vanished over the Pacific Ocean — becoming one of the world’s greatest mysteries of our time.

Since then, many explorers have unsuccessfully attempted to locate Amelia and her Lockheed Electra 10-E. Recently, a new discovery by Deep Sea Vision, a South Carolina-based marine robotics company specializing in deep ocean exploration, has captured the world’s attention and reignited debate in the search for the renowned aviator — and has some believing Amelia’s plane may have, at last, been found.

A moderated panel conversation featuring Deep Sea Vision’s founder Tony Romeo — together with leading explorers and experts in the search for Amelia — will consider where they believe the famed aviator’s plane may be, reasons for its disappearance, and evidence supporting their claims.

Moderator: Dorothy Cochrane Curator, Aeronautics Department, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum

Panelists:

  • Tony Romeo — Founder and CEO, Deep Sea Vision, pilot and
  • Lloyd Romeo — Project Manager, Deep Sea Vision
  • Gary LaPook — Celestial navigation expert with The Stratus Project, a UK-based search for Amelia’s plane
  • Liz Smith — Date Line Theory expert, ocean exploration and science documentary producer

For more about ADVENTURE AMELIA and to register to attend this free program, visit https://ameliaearharthangarmuseum.org/event/adventure-amelia/

4 Amelia Earhart standing in front of Lockheed Electra 10 E—Wikimedia Commons
Amelia Earhart standing in front of the Lockheed Electra in which she disappeared in July 1937.

DEEP DIVE WITH DEEP SEA VISION

WHEN:  Saturday, July 20, 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. CST

WHERE: O’Malley-McAllister Auditorium at Benedictine College, 1020 N. 2nd Street, Atchison, Kan.

WHAT:  Deep Sea Vision scanned more than 5,200 square miles of the Pacific Ocean floor near Howland Island where Amelia was expected to land during her attempt to circumnavigate the world in 1937. During Deep Sea Vision’s 90-day expedition, the 16-person crew used the most advanced unmanned, underwater drone that captured a sonar image of an aircraft-shaped object that Deep Sea Vision believes matches the dimensions of Amelia’s Lockheed Electra 10-E plane.

WHO:   Tony Romeo, pilot, former Air Force intelligence officer and CEO of Deep Sea Vision — together with his brother, Lloyd Romeo, Deep Sea Vision’s project manager who is also a pilot — will share highlights from their search for Amelia’s Lockheed Electra 10-E and the company’s plans to launch its confirmation expedition with a high-powered camera to search for more evidence, such as the aircraft’s “NR16020” registration number. The conversation will be moderated by Amelia Rose Earhart, a pilot, author and artist who honored her namesake by completing a global circumnavigation flight in 2014.

For more about DEEP DIVE WITH DEEP SEA VISION and to register to attend this free program, click HERE.

7 MURIEL Lockheed Electra 10 E courtesy Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum

AN EVENING INSPIRED BY AMELIA

WHEN: Thursday, July 18; 6:15 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. CST

WHERE: Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum, 16701 286th Road, Atchison, Kan. (Amelia Earhart Memorial Airport)

WHAT:  The Museum will host a benefit concert, “AN EVENING INSPIRED BY AMELIA,” premiering a new composition written by Kansas City composer Dana Mengel. The five-movement piece beautifully conveys the dramatic arc of Amelia’s triumphant life and will be performed by the Amazing Strings Ensemble. Tickets are $25 and include a reception where guests will have the opportunity to meet Deep Sea Vision explorers Tony Romeo and Lloyd Romeo. The event is sponsored by Blish-Mize Company and all proceeds support educational programming at the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum.

For more about AN EVENING INSPIRED BY AMELIA  and to purchase tickets, visit https://ameliaearharthangarmuseum.org/event/an-evening-inspired-by-amelia/

AMELIA EARHART FESTIVAL

WHEN: Friday, July 19 and Saturday, July 20

WHAT: The Amelia Earhart Festival is hosted every third weekend in July to celebrate Amelia’s birthday (July 24, 1897) in her Atchison, Kan., hometown. The Festival will feature a line-up of events including a “Concert in the Skyfireworks show on Sat., July 21, that was recently ranked #3 on USA Today’s “10 Best Places to See Fireworks.” For more about the Festival, visit www.VisitAtchison.com/listing/amelia-earhart-festival or follow www.Facebook.com/AmeliaEarhartFestival.

Each year, the Festival honors a woman who exemplifies Amelia’s life with the Amelia Earhart Pioneering Achievement Award. The 2024 recipient, Kamia Bradley, a First Officer for SkyWest Airlines, will share her story of overcoming homelessness to achieve her dream of flight during the Festival’s “Empowered Women” Symposium at 10:30 a.m. CST on Sat., July 20, in the O’Malley-McAllister Auditorium at Benedictine College, 1020 N. 2nd Street.

Past Amelia Earhart Pioneering Achievement Award recipients include Kathy Sullivan, first American woman to walk in space and veteran of three shuttle missions, Mae Jemison, former NASA astronaut and first Black woman to travel into space; Eileen Collins, former NASA astronaut and first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle; Col. Nicole Malachowski, first woman Thunderbird pilot and U.S. Air Force veteran; among others.

“We’re honored to bring an esteemed panel of explorers and experts together in Amelia’s beloved Kansas hometown to lead a renewed national conversation about what happened to the world’s most celebrated pilot who made history as the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean,” said Karen Seaberg, founder of the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum. “The search for Amelia and her Lockheed Electra 10-E continues to be one of the greatest mysteries of our time.”

9 Amelia Earhart in cockpit of her Lockheed Electra 10 E courtesy Purdue University Libraries

ABOUT THE AMELIA EARHART HANGAR MUSEUM

The Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum opened on April 14, 2023, to honor the pioneering aviation legacy of Amelia Earhart in her Atchison, Kan., hometown, and inspire future generations in the pursuit of flight. The centerpiece of the state-of-the art Museum is Muriel — the world’s last remaining Lockheed Electra 10-E aircraft that is identical to the plane Amelia piloted on her fateful, final flight. Surrounding Muriel are 14 interactive STEM and history storytelling exhibit areas that take visitors through Amelia’s extraordinary life — from growing up in Atchison to the height of her worldwide fame as the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Named among “The Most Anticipated Museum Openings of 2023 by Smithsonian Magazine,” the Museum was recently voted #4 on USA Today’s Top 10 Best New Museums. For more, visit www.AmeliaEarhartHangarMuseum.org and follow “AEHangarMuseum” on Facebook,  Instagram and X (Twitter).

Muriel Wide from Mez e1679673282174
Muriel, the sole-surviving Model 10-E Electra of the fifteen built is the crown jewel of the soon-to-be-opened Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum. (image via AEHM)
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